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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-46333

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.17 / 4.5 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Public exploit Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ptrace: slightly saner 'get_dumpable()' logic The 'dumpability' of a task is fundamentally about the memory image of the task - the concept comes from whether it can core dump or not - and makes no sense when you don't have an associated mm. And almost all users do in fact use it only for the case where the task has a mm pointer. But we have one odd special case: ptrace_may_access() uses 'dumpable' to check various other things entirely independently of the MM (typically explicitly using flags like PTRACE_MODE_READ_FSCREDS). Including for threads that no longer have a VM (and maybe never did, like most kernel threads). It's not what this flag was designed for, but it is what it is. The ptrace code does check that the uid/gid matches, so you do have to be uid-0 to see kernel thread details, but this means that the traditional "drop capabilities" model doesn't make any difference for this all. Make it all make a *bit* more sense by saying that if you don't have a MM pointer, we'll use a cached "last dumpability" flag if the thread ever had a MM (it will be zero for kernel threads since it is never set), and require a proper CAP_SYS_PTRACE capability to override.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-269

Privileges are granted, or fail to be dropped, incorrectly, so an action runs with more power than it should. An attacker who reaches that path inherits the excess privilege. The fix is least-privilege throughout, with explicit, checked transitions whenever privilege changes.

General guidance for the improper privilege management class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 3.16.52, < 3.17>= 4.4.40, < 4.5>= 4.8.16, < 4.9>= 4.9.1, < 5.10.256>= 5.11, < 5.15.207>= 5.16, < 6.1.173>= 6.2, < 6.6.139>= 6.7, < 6.12.89>= 6.13, < 6.18.31>= 6.19, < 7.0.8= 7.1
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.17 / 4.5 / 4.9 or later
Fixed in 3.174.54.9
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 5.10.256 (or branch-appropriate: 3.17, 4.5, 4.9, or 5.10.256); Debian 11.0 users should apply latest security updates

  1. Identify the current running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Check if the current version falls within one of the affected ranges: 3.16.52 to <3.17, 4.4.40 to <4.5, 4.8.16 to <4.9, or 4.9.1 to <5.10.256
  3. For Debian 11 (bullseye), check for available patched kernels: 'apt-cache policy linux-image-$(uname -r | sed "s/.*-//")' or check security updates
  4. Upgrade to a fixed kernel version: Linux 5.10.256 or later (or the earliest fixed version in your branch: 3.17, 4.5, 4.9, or 5.10.256)
  5. For Debian 11, apply the latest security updates: 'apt update && apt upgrade' or 'apt full-upgrade' to get patched kernels
  6. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  7. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming ptrace behavior is corrected
Caveat Kernel upgrades may introduce compatibility issues with proprietary kernel modules or older user-space software; ensure critical applications are tested before production reboot

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,950. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-46333 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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